Color burst forth through the black walls of the Union Cabaret.
With few props and minimal lighting, the talented cast of “Broadway Melodies 2011” shone through. The three-part musical extravaganza borrows melodies from well-known musicals and adapts the lyrics to fit hit cultural phenomena.
All the characters involved do not merely recite stagnate lines, but rather breathe life to their roles through commitment and hilarious improvisations.
Though “Glee” was the most promoted and the longest of the three shows, “Mean Girls” most truly mirrored it’s origin.
A high school jungle roared to life with the first installment. It opened with Hairspray’s “The New Girl In Town,” adapted to show the catty portrayal of high school as seen in the film.
The three plastics — Mackenzie Webel’s Regina George, Hayley Wright’s Gretchen Weiners and Cydney Swofford’s Karen Smith — had a great chemistry. They played well off one another’s overdone drama throughout.
The division among students was nicely shown by the separation of the social groups around the stage during the lunch scene. The plastics partnered with the rest of the cast illustrated the shallowness of typical high school peer groups.
In “A Very Tarantino Musical,” a troop of agents run afoul, illustrating director Quentin Tarantino’s signature bloodshed.
The heroine clad in yellow leather — Jessica Sorgi’s Beatrix Kiddo — belted “because I killed you, I have been changed for good,” from “For Good,” a song adapted from the popular musical “Wicked,” when she killed her husband at the climax of the act.
The unique marriage of music with Tarantino’s violent hit film “Kill Bill” made the lesser-known story easier to understand.
Finally, Glee stole the scene.
Each character, drawn from the show’s hodge-podge cast, deals with feelings of being trapped inside a world in which they do not fit.
Like on the show, the “Gleeks” flock together — even though they are different they can sing as one. The most memorable characters from the show are played with sarcasm, in essence poking fun at themselves. But the portrayals will please both “Glee” lovers and haters.
Frequent guest star of the Fox show Kristen Chenoweth was played, somewhat unusually, by Ben Phillis. Phillis only appeared for a moment and seemed to take away from the rising action with a failed attempt at easy humor.
“Broadway Melodies” concludes with characters from all three acts rushing onstage. One last song loosely unites the characters, more in that it brings all of them onstage together rather than actually tying the stories together.
Jack Utrata, who appeared as Aaron Samuels in “Mean Girls” and as Will Schuester in “Glee,” shone as a versatile satirist. He played both roles with an over-the-top enthusiasm.
Though Pauper Players have struggled in the past with the constraints of the cabaret, “Broadway Melodies” felt like it belonged in the cave-like space.
Broadway melodies offers a show that is sure to be a hit with the Broadway lover, the “Glee” obsessed or anyone who can laugh at the cultural references and hilarious stereotypes.
Four out of five stars. See the show in the Union Cabaret Feb. 6-8 at 8 p.m.
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